Mega Event FTF and ‘maccamob’ Raffle

For some of you this may be your first Mega, for others perhaps you are an avid supporter. Either way, one of the most sort after prizes, is the Mega Event FTF.

Let me explain how it works. When you attend a Mega Event, you log your attendance as per usual, but it is not the first person to ‘log’ attendence that gets the FTF, this is decided by the drawing of a FTF Raffle. The person that wins the FTF raffle gets the honour of calling themselves the FTF for the Mega Event. A highly sort after title.

The other traditional raffle we host is the maccamob raffle, where our lovely ‘Hall of Fame’ receipients, Mary and David ‘maccamob’ MacCarthy donate a hamper for the raffle.

Tickets for both raffles are also available at the registration desk and proceeds will go to North East Health Wangaratta – https://www.northeasthealth.org.au/support/donations

Winners of both raffles will also receive an unobtainium coin.

Isolation Competition Winner Announced

Firstly apologies for the delay in announcing the winner of this competition – that thing called LIFE just got in the way.

We were blown away by people’s creativity and by their determination to get out a give something new a go! Well done to everyone who played along and had a bit of fun. Congratulations to Jason Grover who sent in some AMAZING creations each week. Your “Llama” was incredible and has taken out the top prize! 

There are some others we would love to congratulate too. Well done to Ben Appleford for his “Wizard”. Stay tuned for a small prize heading your way too! 

And as this is a geocaching group we need to mention the fabulous creation by Michelle Dunn. Her “TFTC” art really resonated with fellow cachers. Well done – look out for a small prize coming your way too!

Isolation Competition

Who wants to win something shiny?

With Victoria in various states of lockdown we thought we might have a bit of fun.

Have you heard of Strava Lockdown Art? (Google it to see some inspiration). Strava is an app which can track your exercise – think run/cycle/skate. People have been very creative bringing some fun and laughter to their current situation.

We are throwing out the challenge for geocachers to do their own Stava Lockdown Art (or a similar app).

You’ve got 5 weeks (September 13th) to submit to gemmasiemensma@gmail.com or upload to a Facebook Post (and tag Gemma). Bonus points if it’s geocaching related…

Here’s one from fellow geocacher Jason Groves who inspired this competition idea!

tRex

 

The St Arnaud Event – Wrap Up

The dust has settled around St Arnaud and it’s just those last few things that the committee find themselves doing to tie off all those loose ends! What an EVENT! What a Year! Are you ready for 2020?

Receipts Game Winner

Congratulations to muff1 for being the winner of the receipts game. A staggering $20,830.84 was tallied in physical receipts – that’s incredible and certainly helps demonstrate the economic impact geocaching events can have in rural areas!

This can be broken down into:

Petrol: $3866.37;

Accommodation: $7247.00;

Food: $7238.13 (so many coffees);

Other: $2488.21 (pharmacy, books, crafts, clothes, op shops, hardware, camping store)

This excludes receipts we weren’t given (plenty of those), cash sales and money spent in surrounding towns.

Evaluation survey winner

Congratulations to Cliff5009 for being the winner of the evaluation survey. The information gathered here will be used to help plan further Mega events.

#StArnaud2019 Photo Competition Winner

Congrats to GeoTurtle37 for being the winner of the photo competition.

photo1

Honourable mentions go to ILookedThere and Tally Tiger for their entries too.

photo2 photo3

Merchandise update

The last batch of shirts have now been ordered. There are still some coins for sale with a new batch of Standard Coins on their way. Order here.

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Pathtag Trading Sets

If you didn’t quite manage to get all the “trading set” St Arnaud Pathtags don’t fear. It is important to Geocaching Victoria that no ones ends up without a complete set, so we are hoping to assist the geocachers involved to get in touch with each other and complete the required trades. If you have an incomplete trading set of pathtags, please get in touch with louiseannsullivan@gmail.com or via Geocaching Victoria FB messenger with the tag colour you have to trade and the tag colour you are missing and contact details you are happy to pass on to the other parties and we will help get you in touch with the missing pathtag holder.

The Whittlesea Event 2020

In case you missed the news the next big thing happening in Victoria is The Whittlesea Event 2020. Register your “will attend” now! And in case you missed it, the event is now officially a…

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Stay tuned as more information about The Whittlesea Event 2020 will be announced SOON!

The St Arnaud Event – 3 weeks to go

Welcome to The St Arnaud Event update. Can you believe there is only 3 WEEKS TO GO? The committee are working behind the scenes to bring you the best MEGA event we can – all for FREE! Remember to REGISTER HERE by logging a “Will Attend” as this year we will be crossing off names at the event to ensure everyone who registered early gets their FREE gift.

It’s also important that you log your “will attend” on any other events you plan to attend. At the Saturday Night event we are providing each attendee with a Roast Beef Roll but if you haven’t logged a “will attend” here you will miss out! Rotary will also be selling sausages so bring a chair and some loose change!

Check out the full Schedule so you can plan your weekend.

Official Shirts – LAST CHANCE TO ORDER

Official St Arnaud Event shirts now available to order. Check out the Geocaching Victoria Store to pre-order yours now. Available in Men’s, Women’s and Kids sizes. Orders close October 27th so get in quick!

shirt

Games over the weekend

There will lots of different ways to win prizes over MEGA weekend and taking part in some of the games we have on offer is a great way to be a part of all the fun. When you register you will be given some handouts of activities to complete so be sure to take part because as the old adage states – YOU GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!

We will also have a box called “Receipt’s Game”. We are asking people to collect any receipts from when they shop in St Arnaud in the week prior and post the Mega and to pop your caching name and a mobile number on the back and add them to our box. We will then draw a winner who will receive a very special prize. We can also use this data to gather an idea on how much impact a geocaching event can have economically within a community.

Stand out! Add an ORANGE ribbon to your car!

Travelling to St Arnaud for the MEGA Event? Tie an ORANGE ribbon or two to your car so we can all see each other.

orange_herringbone_twill_ribbon

Accommodation still Available at Camp Seed

Camp Seed, Stuart Mill (Only 15 mins from St Arnaud with plenty of caches in-between) have some accommodation bookings still available. Booking options are offered on either a per bed or per room rate:
$70 per adult for 2 nights in a shared room (4 single beds each room)
$250 for the 2 nights for a room (4 x single beds)…
You will have access to a large commercial style kitchen to store and prepare food as well as a large dining hall and recreation hall. These facilities allow you to continue nurturing your social connections within the Geocaching community.

Camp Seed is only accepting bookings for people participating in the Geocaching event so you will be residing with a like minded community. They don’t have lockable doors to the bedrooms so you need to bear in mind that your valuables need to be cared for under your own responsibility.

Please call Donna on 0403 810 614 to make a booking.

Geocaching in St Arnaud – Bush Wander Series

The Bush Wander series was created in 2017 by FUF009 & Tyred n Cranky, the 4th annual series from the trio and yet another trail of impressive creations. The BW series is a total of 22 caches comprising a letterbox and a multi to join the trads and the 2 puzzles that require the numbers to be collected along the way.

The BW series begins on Centre Road taking you on yet another enjoyable journey through the St Arnaud bush. A total of 1,592* unique finds have been logged on this series with over 680* favourite points awarded to the series overall.

Begin your adventure at BW01 – St Arnaud Regional Park (GC7A7ME).

*Statistics current as of 23 October 2019

First to Find (FTF) Raffle

We know people love chasing FTFs – how would you like a MEGA Event FTF? This raffle supports the amazing work done by The St Arnaud Agricultural Society (whose premises we are using and who do an amazing job of coordinating the St Arnaud Show). So if you are a FTF hound, or you just want to support a really great charity, then you can go in the draw to earn the right to call yourself the FTFer of The St Arnaud Event, 2019. Tickets are only $2 and you may win FTF and an unobtainium geocoin… You can purchase your tickets in this wonderful raffle by following this link!

St A Ag society

Geocaching Downunder Podcast

Did you tune into the Geocaching Downunder Podcast held earlier in the month? Geocaching Victoria Inc. Treasurer “BernieH” caught up with Seemyshell & AngelG27 to talk about all thing St Arnaud!

Have a listen here and you might find out some information we’ve yet to release about The St Arnaud MEGA Event… If you listen to the end too there is a chance to enter a very simple competition for all those who are attending the MEGA Event.

St Arnaud Geo Coins & Pathtags

The St Arnaud Event 2019 MEGA standard and limited edition geocoins are also selling like hotcakes in the Geocaching Victoria store. Get in quick before they sell out!

The Standard coin has been specifically designed for the event and features Fern the leadbeater possum as well as some stunning Australian flora including Victoria’s floral emblem – the Pink Heath. What sets this coin apart is that it is a 3D textured coin. They have arrived so we can now show you the final image. Coins are $16 each. Order here.

coin

The Limited Edition coins come in three different colours and aims to depict the farming communities that are located within the St Arnaud district. Get in quick as these are limited in number! This coin is 3 inches in size so nice to add to the collection. Limited edition coins are $34 each. Order here.

LE tractor coins

And whilst in the store don’t forget to purchase your St Arnaud Pathtags too!

Milestones

Who doesn’t love celebrating a milestone at a MEGA event? We know lots of people do so as in previous years we will be handing out some special certificates. If you plan to celebrate a Milestone in St Arnaud make sure you fill in this form.

Sponsorship

It’s thanks to amazing supporters that make a MEGA event possible. This includes GeoStuff who will be on site during the Mega. We’ve also had donations from our mates in South Australia who are organising a MEGA event there – GeoVenture2020, Caching Supplies, Sssafe and Sistema so a big thanks to them too. It’s also important to note that this event isn’t possible without the support of the Northern Grampians Shire Council so thank you NGS – your support in invaluable! And we can’t forget the amazing support from PathTags and Geocaching HQ   who help to make this dream a reality! Thanks guys!